Show HN: I built a large JavaScript powered flipdisc display. Here's a guide

> near limitless lifespan

The lifespan is probably not as limitless as you might have imagined, the discs tend to fall off or get stuck. But they are really neat while they are working, especially how they sounds.

I was at an office with these flip dot displays, and eventually we dismantled the display. I took some picture of the pieces and you can see how stuck discs look like:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/onpHefUVL8oeP4si7

Fun fact: Texas Instruments DLP (Digital Light Processing) are like a miniaturized version of the flip-disc display.

But some differences are that flip-discs rotate 180° whereas DLP pixels only tilt a little bit to redirect the light to a heatsink, flip-discs have different colors on each side whereas DLP has mirror pixels, flip-discs probably have finite lifespan whereas DLP is good for trillions of cycles, and DLP responds so quickly (in microseconds) that grayscale is accomplished by duty cycle modulation (PWM).

Breakfast studio offers some amazing art pieces using Flipdisc modules.

https://breakfaststudio.com/flip-discs

How exactly did the author get the panels? I've looked into stuff like this before and it's basically impossible to source outside of things like eBay. Unless you're willing to buy industrial quantities at industrial prices.

How did they buy them, and for how much?

This is so cool.

I love to see Javascript used for stuff like this. It blew my mind that the James Webb Telescope uses a custom Javascript runtime for a lot of the onboard functions.

I think this could be useful as a NOC monitor. Mostly the display is static but if something goes wrong the display updates and the noise naturally draws your attention. No “alarm” necessary.

Where is the obligatory Touhou Bad Apple animation on this black-and-white display?

Nice. I also have a fondness for flip-dots. Started with Javascript controller for Hanover bus display (https://engineer.john-whittington.co.uk/2017/11/adventures-f...) and continued with the Alfa-Zeta modules following a commission to make the controller for a 256x56 one - 24 panels!

For that I used a Python module (https://github.com/tuna-f1sh/flipdot) and Python Flask/React based manager, with sequence info in a SQLlite db. Same outcome as your App with pre-loaded transitions and of course, Game of Life: https://engineer.john-whittington.co.uk/2020/04/game-of-life...

It's my project TODO list to make a FPGA based direct HDMI controller for the Alfa-Zeta modules since refresh rate of the on-board firmware leaves a little to be desired.

The beginning of the demo video is reminiscent of Ye Olde Wooden Mirror

https://www.smoothware.com/danny/woodenmirror.html

or more recently

https://tisch.nyu.edu/itp/news/spring-2024/daniel-rozin--itp...

> flipdisc displays are sort of an obscure technology

"niche technology" is probably the better term - that niche being readability in sunlight. A few years ago, flipdisc displays used to be very common in buses, trains etc. Then LEDs got better and the niche vanished...

I've been coveting a Vestaboard, but this seems like a more interesting alternative. Thanks for the guide!

Owen McAteer, https://motus.art/, @motus_art did something similar with the flip-dot displays from AlfaZeta. I have no stake, but I'm a fan of his work.

His code can be found at https://github.com/owenmcateer/FlipDots.

> We used 9 Alfazeta panels in a 3x3 grid or 84x42 discs. Each board has (2) 28x7 panels.

So how much do one of those cost? The website (https://flipdots.com/en/products-services/flip-dot-boards-xy...) notably has no prices listed.

I built a lo-fi device like this (with a LED matrix instead of a flipboard) and I didn't really find great software for building animations at a low pixel count. I ended up doing something super low level where I draw to a buffer directly using ImageMagick. If there's a better library I'd love to know.

I think the javascript here plays a rather small part in the entire assembly.

This looks amazingly cool. Love the old school “analog” feel of it

Thank you for sharing

So happy to find out what this is! The Meow Wolf in Denver has a huge one of these in the entrance way and I thought it would really fun to build one myself. They have this wonderful clickiness to them, a mesmerizing display both modern- and ancient-feeling.

Mike from Mikes Electric Stuff on YouTube, did a very interesting 25 minute video deep dive on flipdots - how they work, patent details, how to drive and get the best performance, etc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u26N-pQY2U4

As for what to do next, there is nothing I want more than the old split-flap departure board of Penn Station. It was exactly like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8azGTsslNc

The clicking, its sooooo satisfying.

I've got one of these too, albeit much lower resolution. I bought it as a Krush Flip Clock at CES 2016, and wrote a Python driver for it. Looks like it's the same exact protocol.

https://github.com/dmd/clack

Amazing work, I've long dreamed of building some sort of magical chyron or ticker using flip discs.

I have looking for a cheap low-res 18in x 10in display so that I can display stuff to it via Python using a raspberry pi; this is very interesting but its a bit too big and expensive.

In a world of flat featureless screens, I really love the physicality of this. Even the noise it makes. It feels like it communicates a lot more than its raw “pixel” count would suggest.

It would be really cool if you could read out the state of the grid as well. You could then use the display as SRAM. Would look very cool as part of the world's slowest microcontroller.

Love this.

Reminds me of the “flip flap” boards in old train stations. Like https://www.vestaboard.com/

reminds me of a certain art installation at Changi Airport in Singapore. it was the first cool thing I saw in that country

This is incredibly cool! Does the video audio amplify the sound of the discs flipping or are they really that loud?

I've always wanted to build something like this, but I have no idea where to get the actual flipdiscs.

Love this. I have 2 blank walls in my new office which could do with something like this

This is neat. But wondering what the power draw for something like this would be?

Just so you know, the links in the contact section appear to be broken.

Kath - so cool to see this is you! What a great project. Well done.

Whats the expected lifetime for a flipdisc display like that

I was expecting Bad Apple on flipdiscs.

i'm sure i'm not the only one who wanted this information:

>AlfaZeta makes brand new displays, with a controller board. Their XY5 displays (14x28) sells around 500€ (VAT and shipping included).

https://hackaday.io/project/159415-flip-dot-display-diy-cont...

How do they have no moving parts?

What is up with the URL?

> Flip displays are an interesting alternative. They have no moving parts,

What? The display is made almost entirely of moving discs.